My Telecom Training Triathlon Tryout

By Khali Henderson

The Keanes (Jeff and Pete) of the KeaneTel have been inviting me to attend their master agency's annual for the past few years. This year, being that it was in Las Vegas and near my home base in Phoenix, I decided to join in. Now, I know why that call it the Telecom Training Triathlon.

I originally thought it was a cute marketing name for the three-day event, but it turns out to be an endurance test. The day I was attended, classes started at 8:30 and continued through to 5 p.m. with a one-hour lunch break. Then, it picked up again with a reception at 8 p.m. when KeaneTel honored its top sales partners and suppliers.

Jeff Keane admits that it can be a long day, but says it's only half as long on the first and last days of the event. To reward sales partners for their stamina, KeaneTel offered two free years of membership in its sales partner program. Unlike traditional agent programs, KeaneTel sales partners pay a monthly fee to KeaneTel in exhange for 80 percent to 100 percent of commisisons. The two prizes (a $7,200 value each) -- one for an existing partner and one for a prospective partner -- were offered in a drawing. The catch? You had to attend every activity to qualify for the drawing.

By Friday morning, the crowd -- about 30+ agents and as many suppliers -- thinned, eliminating all but eight companies from drawing. (No pain, no gain!) Dwayne King of Network Carrier Resources (NCR) and Paul Pietrusewicz of Maket2Go were the winners.

NCR's Dwayne King

Market2Go's Paul Pietrusewicz

I wasn't eligible for the award, of course, but I did get a workout  -- albeit only the middle part, which I believe corresponds to the  swimming part in a real triathlon. (Well, there was swimming at the MGM Grand in Vegas, but I can't say that I got to go anywhere near the water.) Nevertheless, I and the other students were nearly "drowning" in information by the time that I left.  

During last week's training KeaneTel sales partners heard from 13 suppliers and event sponsors, including ACC Business, AT&T (via master agent Integral Choice), Cavalier, Connex, Covad, DynaLink, Intelliverse, Intercall, New Edge Networks, PAETEC, Qwest, Total Call International/OPEX and XO.  Two of the suppliers -- PAETEC and Intelliverse -- are new to the KeaneTel portfolio this year.

Since I was only there for a day, I got to hear from just a few. Here are some of the highlights:

PAETEC's Alex Prescott

PAETEC's Steve Kopp and Alex Prescott promoted the CLEC's expanded footprint following the McLeodUSA merger. They discussed the company's data products and also a unique equipment-for-services offer. Jeff Keane said also touted an aggressive commission strucutre available to the KeaneTel Sales Partners.

Intelliverse's Frank Paterno

Frank Paterno of Intelliverse, spoke about selling the company's hosted IP telephony services as well as its new integration with the New Edge Networks MPLS footprint, bypassing the public Internet. New Edge Networks' new channel chief Brett Theiss discussed the company's new MPLS over DSL product.

Joel Allinson of XO (KeaneTel's Carrier of the Year) highlighted the CLEC's IPfolio products and mentioned a new cool IP Flex feature launched a month ago that enables users of its service to click-to-dial any number even when away from their desktop phone. The service calls both the subscriber and the person he/she is calling and connects them. Later this year, XO wil add a feature that allows subscribers to move seamlessly from mobile phone to desktop within a call.

XO's John DiCataldo announced upcoming XO SIP integrations with popular IP PBXs. The latest is with Cisco's UC500. In June, the carrier plans to announce integrations with gear from Nortel, 3Com, ShoreTel and Mitel. In January 2009, integration is planned for systems from Siemens, Aastra, Toshiba and Panasonic, he said.

Qwest's Steve Robinson

Qwest's Steve Robinson also talked about its product roadmap for OneFlex SmartConnect. In second quarter, he expects it to support up to 200 seats per location; presently, the limit is 48. He also expects it to support a VPN component in short order.

In addition to its new carriers, KeaneTel also announced the launch of a new Website, www.keanetelsalespartners.com, to house all carrier communications regarding spiff and promotions as well as useful tools like area code maps. Since the site was opened in January, Keane said it's become a popular place for carriers to disseminate information to the KeaneTel sales network.

Keane said this year's training is the most successful to date. There weren't more people, but the ones that attended represented 80 percent to 90 percent of KeaneTel's business. KeaneTel has about 32 sales partners, he said. (KeaneTel had tried the traditional agency route, but found it unproductive and shut it down.)  This year, he said the KeaneTel sales partners are on pace to deliver $22 million in carrier revenue.

I am happy to report that I survived my first Telecom Training Triathlon with only a residual few aches and pains  -- mostly of the brain cramp variety.